FDNY Sends Bill to "Unknown Asian"

Receive the latest national-international updates in your inbox

The city's fire department has vowed to review its billing policies after The New School received a bill addressed to "Unknown Asian" for an ambulance, oxygen and mileage used to assist an intoxicated student in the early morning hours after Halloween, according to a published report.

Christine Ahn, associate director of academic communications at the school, told the Daily News, "We were in disbelief" after receiving the bill, which was sent to "unknown Asian" on West 13th Street.

The FDNY told the paper the bill was for their response to a call about a female student with a "drug or alcohol intox issue" around 3 a.m. Nov. 1.

Sources within the department told the News the student was too intoxicated to identify herself to first responders so paramedics identified her as "unknown" and listed her as Asian in their paperwork.

Someone said she was from a New School dorm, so the paperwork was processed and sent to a billing contractor, who prepared the statement and sent it to the school, a fire department source told the paper.

Department spokesman Frank Dwyer told the News fire officials were taking steps to ensure no similar mailings were sent in the future.

Those steps will include instructing the bill contractor not to process paperwork that lists "unknown" for a name, Dwyer said.